Invitation by Daniël Laan
Right in the heart of the Vosges area in Northern France, a small secluded lake was waiting to be captured. The perfectly still conditions and brightly lit yellow leaves that marked the first sign of autumn coming early that year, gave me the idea of capturing this place in a somewhat less obvious manner.
This is a good example of how ‘pre-visualizing’ starts even before you capture the shot.
Photography to me, is a means of creating art. Instead of documenting an area, I rely heavily on what my own mood is on a particular moment. This way, I not only capture something that I’ve seen on a certain moment, but also shows you how I saw it, however abstract or surreal the subject then became. It’s my goal to pour a piece of my soul into an image and to leave the discussions of ‘real photography’ at the door, as I do not intent to reproduce your own reality. I really think that you should visit these locations for yourself and see them with your own eyes.
As many landscapes do, Lac de la Maix whispered some details of how she wanted to be portrayed to me. Long bright lines of birches, standing tall across the lake reflected beautifully in her clear waters. The water was just deep enough to be showing this special shade of blue-green that hints of a mix between moss and a tropical shore.
What I want to show you is how these birches divide, but also unite this beautiful lake, with the yellows and greens of the sunlit foliage supporting that amazing hue of blue-green. A perfect way to do that was to make use of a technique called Intentional Camera Movement, which should be self-explanatory. With the camera set up on a tripod and with a 85mm lens attached, I closed up the aperture and went below the camera’s recommended ISO in order to maximize the shutterspeed.
I then started pointing the camera slowly but steadily in a downwards motion and as soon as the shore on the far side of the lake crossed the center of the frame, I fired the shutter. At 1/10th of a second, the movement of the 85mm lens captured a still lake, where the trees and bushes seem to dance and lure you across the water to join them. It’s like you’re being invited to join them.
‘Invitation’ was captured using intentional camera movement on the banks of Lac de la Maix, Vosges, France with the D600 at 85mm.
1/10s | f/14 | ISO80
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